Zenitco on a Type81
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I have Zenitco on mine. It took about 20 minutes of hand filing on the back of the handguard to square off the "U" shaped section so it goes on the trunnion area of the receiver. From there the original lower handguard screw fits through but you need a washer to have it contact the new Zenitco hardguard. On the other end the T81 front handguard retainer presses up against the front part of the cutout on the handguard that accommodates an AK's handguard retainer area and everything fits together quite nicely. It will NOT hold zero. I only have the EOtech on mine in one picture because I thought it would, but it did develop a slight wiggle. They hold zero on an AK because they have to be hammered into the receiver, but on a Type 81 it's only held on with a single screw and some friction so you would have to do some real work to get everything to hold zero. If you want to get something to hold zero stick with a side rail or the new Sigmaco handguard. You also have to remove the wood from the upper piston cover and I had to grind off the retainers to get it to fit, but if you don't want to have the upper rail on the Zenitco you can just mount the bottom part and keep the wood on your upper.
As you can see from the last picture that area that's filed down used to be in a "U" shape. Just file away and try to square everything off and keep testing for fit until you have to hammer it on with a rubber mallet and the aluminum will slide on fairly tight. The filing wasn't done when I took the picture, but I did square it off a bit better for the final fit.
As you can see from the last picture that area that's filed down used to be in a "U" shape. Just file away and try to square everything off and keep testing for fit until you have to hammer it on with a rubber mallet and the aluminum will slide on fairly tight. The filing wasn't done when I took the picture, but I did square it off a bit better for the final fit.
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I have Zenitco on mine. It took about 20 minutes of hand filing on the back of the handguard to square off the "U" shaped section so it goes on the trunnion area of the receiver. From there the original lower handguard screw fits through but you need a washer to have it contact the new Zenitco hardguard. On the other end the T81 front handguard retainer presses up against the front part of the cutout on the handguard that accommodates an AK's handguard retainer area and everything fits together quite nicely. It will NOT hold zero. I only have the EOtech on mine in one picture because I thought it would, but it did develop a slight wiggle. They hold zero on an AK because they have to be hammered into the receiver, but on a Type 81 it's only held on with a single screw and some friction so you would have to do some real work to get everything to hold zero. If you want to get something to hold zero stick with a side rail or the new Sigmaco handguard. You also have to remove the wood from the upper piston cover and I had to grind off the retainers to get it to fit, but if you don't want to have the upper rail on the Zenitco you can just mount the bottom part and keep the wood on your upper.
As you can see from the last picture that area that's filed down used to be in a "U" shape. Just file away and try to square everything off and keep testing for fit until you have to hammer it on with a rubber mallet and the aluminum will slide on fairly tight. The filing wasn't done when I took the picture, but I did square it off a bit better for the final fit.
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